The Cubbies come to the Desert

This week marks one of John's favorite times of the year: when the Cubbies play the Diamondbacks. They were here for three games and we were able to make it to the last two on Tuesday and Wednesday. On Tuesday, we went with our friend Shane. We were supposed to sit up in the upper deck area, but courtesey of a friend of a friend, we got awesome seats at field level right next to the Cubs dugout. We were so close, we could have almost touched the dirt. We were about 30 feet away from Derrek Lee at 1st base. And Fukudome jogged out right in front of us to get the the right field every inning. The only downfall was this super weird guy sitting two seats down from Shane. He had on an elbow, knee and ankle brace, which didn't seem to stop him from jumping up and down wildly while cheering for the d-backs. He also had the largest and shiniest watch on that I have ever seen in person, plus a giant, tacky class ring of some sort. He was certainly a strange dude. I wanted to take a picture of him, but John wouldn't let me. However, even with our amazing seats, John still left the game depressed because they lost 9-2 to the diamondbacks, which is why he looks so grouchy in the pictures right next to the dugout. As we were leaving through the underground tunnels to exit from our seats, the security guards stopped us because Carlos Zambrano was walking from the dugout to the visitors locker room. Even though the Cubs lost, John was still excited to see Zambrano just a few feet away.

Wednesdays game was much better. We didn't have as great as seats as the night before, but we were in the bleacher area behind right field, which was fun. There were tons of Cubs fans all around us, probably at least 50% of the stadium was filled with Cubs fans, which says a lot about the fans out here in AZ. John was still depressed because the game wasn't shaping up for a win, until the 8th inning when Reed Johnson hit a grandslam, which was awesome. Even though they lost the series, 2-1, it was a great way to end the run in the desert. John's looking forward to seeing the Cubbies at Wrigley on Sunday during our trip to Chicago.

Update to Glucose Testing

Luckily, my test came back normal, so I do not have gestational diabetes. I guess that means that I get to eat what ever I want for the next 11 1/2 weeks! It would be a long end of the pregnancy without any sugar....

The Dark Knight

If you haven't gone to see the new Batman movie, "The Dark Knight", I highly recommend it. John and I went on Saturday and it was by far the best Batman movie ever made. Of course, it really could only go up from George Clooney in "Batman and Robin." Christian Bale is a fantastic Batman (plus it doesn't hurt that he is easy on the eyes) and Heath Ledger's performance was amazing. I had read a bunch of reviews before and everyone was talking about how Heath's performance as the Joker was Oscar-worthy. Personally, I thought his first few scenes were decent, but not fanastic, so I was a bit concerned that his performance was going to be over-rated. However, as the movie went on, his performance as the Joker got darker and more amazing. Michael Caine is wonderful as Alfred the butler and adds a nice humor element to the otherwise pretty dark movie. That's my two-cents. If anyone else saw it, what did you think?

You know what's not fun....

Fasting and glucose testing when you are pregnant. I had to get the glucose test on Tuesday at my regular doctor's appointment. They make you drink this liquid that tastes like non-carbonated orange soda. It's not really that bad, but you have to drink it all in 5 minutes, which is a bit rough. Plus, I wasn't allowed to eat sugar of any kind all day prior to taking the test, which was awful! Then you get to sit there for an hour and then they take your blood. If you are lucky like me, you will get a call back two days later from a very nice lady that tells me that my blood sugar is "slightly elevated". So that meant that I had to go in again this morning for a 3-hour glucose test, in which you have to fast from 10pm the night before and then they take your blood, give you the glucose drink again and then draw your blood every hour for 3 hours. Plus, you aren't allowed to eat anything during the test, so I didn't eat until noon today! What kind of test makes a pregnant woman starve?? This was so not fun. Lucky for John, I went Thursday instead of Friday and didn't make him sit there with me for three hours! Now we get to sit and wait to see if I have gestational diabetes. I am already at risk because Type 2 diabetes runs prevalently on one side of my family, so I have my fingers crossed.

Back from Colorado

For the 4th of July weekend, John and I went up to visit our friend's Brian, Ashley and their 4 year old daughter Ainsley, outside of Denver. Our other friends, Bill and Nikki came out from Chicago as well, so it was like a little mini-reunion. The guys all went to high school together and hadn't all been together in over a year, so they had lots of fun. Us girls had a good time as well. On the 4th, we went to check out the local festivities, where John escorted Ainsley around the pony ride. He was also a very good sport when Ainsley insisted on putting a tattoo on his neck, which of course looked awesome! Later on that night, we were able to watch the local fireworks show from the front yard. We were also wowed by John and Brian's own fireworks display. While they certainly did give it their best shot, you can only do so much with $12 worth of fireworks. On Saturday, we had some pool time and the girls got pedicures while the guys went to Target, where John helped Ainsley pick out a new Barbie and a tricky to set-up sticker machine as a belated birthday gift. Lucky for Nikki, Ashley and I, Ainsley even let us play with her Barbies. On Sunday, the guys went to the baseball game and the girls checked out downtown Denver. All in all, it was a nice relaxing weekend and lots of fun to catchup with friends.

Not entirely certain why the pictures turned out funky, but enjoy!

He will be his father's son...

John went on another baseball trip a few weeks ago to see the Cincinnati and St. Louis stadiums. (Only 3 stadiums left to go) About a week or two before he left he comes home from work and says that he is going to get the baby the best gift when he goes on the trip. Obviously the first question I ask, is what the heck is he buying for our baby in Cincinnati? John says "no, not Cincinnati, it's actually across state lines in Kentucky." Then comes question #2, "what the heck kind of baby gift comes from Kentucky?" John then asks if I know what is in Louisville, KY and it finally dawns on me... the Lousiville Slugger Factory. Sure enough, John returns from his trip with a Cole's very first baseball bat, complete with his name engraved on it. And because John is really just a big kid himself, he also got himself a bat, with both his name and the Cubs logo engraved on it. When I asked him why he didn't get the Cubbie logo on the baby's bat, his answer was that he "didn't want to shove it down his throat." Right, like our baby is really going to have the option to be anything but a Cubs fan. That'll be the day....

99 days and counting....

Apparently, today we have officially 99 days until this baby is due. I cannot believe how quickly this is going by. Little Cole is going to be here before we know it and we still have so much to do. We haven't even begun to start the babies room yet, but John has assured me that we start in the next few weeks. The first thing that we have to do is get rid of the guest bed in there. Luckily, I believe we have a taker. Then we have to replace the carpet, which you can see from the picture has been "altered" by the dogs. I am fairly certain that is frowned upon to have exposed nails in a baby's room. We did order our furniture a little over a month ago, but for some reason it is going to take 10-12 weeks to get it in. I don't know if they are planning to whittle it or what.

One thing that we do already have it the bassinet. I have been lucky enough to get a family heirloom one. Cole will actually be a third generation baby, as both my father and I used it when we were babies. It's about 65 years old and has been used by about 40 or 50 babies since then. For safety reasons, it has had to be rebuilt a few times over the years, but it is adorable and I can't wait to see our little guy in there. I have two "concerns" with the bassinet. One is that Ryno is tall enough to actually peer inside, so I think he will be obsessed with watching the baby while he is in there. Two, I am quite certain that our cat, Sammy will decide that it is a perfect place for her to nap out of sight of the dogs. Ah, the adventures of owning crazy animals...